
LESSONS
ON
TNE BOOK OF LUXE.
7
unworthiness
;
and who, therefore, will not claim anything from the
Lord. He said, " Say in a word, and my servant shall be healed."
He expected blessings in spite of his unworthiness, and such are the
ones who receive mercies from God. Jesus Himself was not influenced
by the representations of the Jews ; but when the centurion, while
pleading his own unworthiness, showed how easily Christ could grant
his request, the Lord said, " I have not found so great faith, no, not
in Israel." "And Jesus said unto the centurion, Go thy way; as
thou hast believed, so be it done unto thee." Matt. 8 :13. It was
his simple faith, and not his rich gifts, that recommended the cen-
turion to Jesus.
3.
" BUT say in a word, and my servant shall be healed. For I
also am a man set under authority, having under me soldiers, and I
say unto one, Go, and he goeth ; and to another, Come, and he
cometh ; and, to my servant, Do this, and he doeth it." Jesus re-
garded this as the most marvelous manifestation of faith that He had
ever seen. Wherein lay the greatness of the faith 7—In the simple
fact of grasping the power of Christ's word. Just as the centurion's
word could set men in motion, and thus accomplish results, so Christ's
word could command the disease to depart. The Psalmist, speaking
of God's dealing with ancient Israel, said, " He sent His word, and
healed them, and delivered them from their destructions." Ps. 107 :
20.
This was fullfilled in the case of the centurion's servant. Jesus
sent His word, and the life that was in it made the sick man well. It
is such faith as the centurion manifested, and only such,—faith that
lays hold of and rests upon the power of the living word,—that will
give us the kingdom. See Matt. 8 : 10-12.
4.
" Now when He came nigh to the gate of the city, behold, there
was a dead man carried out, the only son of his mother, and she was
a widow; and much people of the city was with her. And when the
Lord saw her, He had compassion on her, and said unto her, Weep
not."/" Like as a father pitieth his children, so the Lord pitieth
them that fear Him." Ps. 103: 13. " In all their affliction He was
afflicted, and the angel of His presence saved them." Isa. 63 : 9.
" For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the
feeling of our infirmities." Heb. 4 :15. In the compassion of Jesus
for the bereaved and sorrowing mother, we see the tender pity of God
for suffering and sinful men ; for " God was in Christ, reconciling the
world unto Himself." 2 Cor. 6 :19. Satan has led men to think that
God is stern, exacting, and tyrannical. Christ " emptied Himself "
(Phil. 2 : 7, Revised Version), that He might represent only the Father,
and so disprove Satan's slander. " God is love." Who can hesitate
to come to Him, when we know that it was His love and compassion
that was manifested in the gentle Saviour 7/
6. "AND He said, Young man, I say unto thee, Arise. And he that
was dead sat up, and began to speak." What was it that put life